Former Vice President Al Gore is being accused of inciting violence against the US by making comments such as the US government had committed ‘terrible abuses’ against Arabs living in America after 9/11 attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Mr. Gore, who lost the 2004 election to the current US president, did not cite one example of this abuse.

Mr Gore also said that President Bush's administration "was playing into Al Qaeda’s hands by routinely blocking Saudi applications for US visas." He made these comments in Saudi Arabia, a nation that exports radical Islam -- Wahabbism -- to many nations. Some Saudis also fund terrorism and terrorist groups, but Mr. Gore to declined to mention those facts.

“The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake,” Mr Gore said at the Jeddah Economic Forum. “The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States.”

In response to Mr. Gore's comments in Saudi Arabia, the National Association of Chiefs of Police, a 14,000-member organization representing the interests of America's law enforcement commanders, released the following statement:

As a result of his obvious hatred towards the President of the United States, former Vice President Al Gore has crossed the line of diplomatic decency by denigrating his own country within the Islamic world. Are there not enough problems in the Middle East? Does Mr. Gore wish to inflame more hatred towards the United States in the Arab world.

Mr. Gore has made serious accusations against his own country without providing evidence or proof of his outrageous allegations. Our association has several members who are Arabs and not one has complained of being abused by any level of the US government.

One of our vice presidents, Jim Kouri, a 27-year veteran, is an Arab-American and he finds Gore's comments not only offensive but also wildly exaggerated and inappropriate during a time of war.

The former US vice-president told the largely Saudi audience that Arabs in the United States had been “indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable.” Visa violations were part of the devastating 9-11 attacks on America and its people -- attacks Mr. Gore seems oblivious to. Also, visa overstays in America are an enormous problem. Is Mr. Gore saying America should not enforce its laws?

Gore further said there have been terrible abuses and it’s wrong. He said that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of his country. Where is Mr. Gore's evidence of abuses? He should bring the evidence to the attention of the Department of Justice or the US Congress.  And has Mr. Gore spoken to the majority of Americans?

Why didn't Mr. Gore tell his audience that Saudi Arabia exports radical Islam to countries throughout the world and that members of the royal family finance some terrorist groups? Was he only interested in inciting hatred towards his own country?

Al Gore's comments should be condemned by Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.

We condemn them and find his shrill comments loathsome and ugly.

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The National Association of Chiefs of Police is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, tax exempt, educational association of command law enforcement officers within the United States, its territories and military forces.